The official website of Sri Lanka's defence ministry had carried the article with the headline "how meaningful are Jayalalithaa's love letters to Narendra Modi", writes BBC Hindi's Imran Qureshi from Bangalore.

The article was accompanied by an illustration which showed Ms Jayalalithaa thinking of Mr Modi whose face was encircled in a heart.

Correspondents said the article and the illustration implied that the PM was being influenced by Ms Jayalalithaa who had been demanding action against Colombo for arresting Tamil fishermen.

Indian Tamil parties like Ms Jayalalithaa's AIADMK say Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa's government has not done enough for Sri Lanka's Tamil community.

At the weekend, the Tamil Nadu government asked the visiting Sri Lankan Under-15 cricket team to leave the state capital, Chennai, due to security reasons. The cricketers were in Chennai to participate in a tournament.